Childish Dreams
by IronicVeghead
Summary: The team runs into Icicle Jr and Artemis is reminded of her dreams from childhood, as well as realizing the potential of a future with someone new. Spitfire. Oneshot.


**So this was supposed to be related to this prompt:_ Icicle Jr. is flirting with Artemis and Wally gets jealous._**

**But it kind of took on a life of it's own...and this happened.**

**I don't really think it's very cohesive, but I kind of like it anyway because the dreams I gave Artemis in this is something I dealt with as well. And I'm pretty sure a lot of girls do. I don't want to spoil it though, so I'll stop talking. **

* * *

Wally wasn't sure what was worse. The fact that he, Robin, and Artemis had to fight an immature ice villain while the rest of the team went after the big guns. Or the fact that said ice villain was flirting with the female archer.

_Flirting._

The only saving factor of the situation was the amount of bad assery Artemis was throwing back at him. Which was great because Wally wasn't sure he would be able to keep his big mouth shut if she didn't verbally defend herself.

"Hey hott stuff; why don't you ditch these losers and come back to my place?" Icicle Jr smirked, still deflecting their attacks. His ice armor was a major pain against Artemis and Robin's projectiles.

"Like I would be interested in someone as cold-hearted as you!" Artemis shot back as she launched a net arrow that he cut through. Wally found himself grinning. He didn't know why it felt so good to hear her shoot down the advances of some pervert. But boy did it.

"Aw, lighten up Babe, I can show you a real good time," The villain wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Robin laughed in disbelief while Artemis merely rolled her eyes.

"She could do so much better than you!" Wally scoffed. And, to his credit, he hadn't _planned_ on saying anything. But he couldn't just stay quiet! The man was lecherous!

"Like who? You?" Icicle let out a high pitched laugh, "Yeah right!" The criminal shot shards of ice towards him that he dodged easily.

Wally decided that this wasn't going anywhere good. There was _no way_ Artemis was going to defend his charm and good looks. He might be able to defend himself, but that wasn't what mattered. Jr would only be interested in what Artemis had to say.

He faltered in his step when Artemis suddenly launched herself at the criminal with a vicious snarl, her foot lashing out and catching his jaw. Wally made a mental note to watch out for her feet because she _really_ liked kicking people in the face. Some of her victims being Poison Ivy, Harm (as he was later told), and her own father. Surely if she was upset his own face would be at risk.

"Kid Flash is a _hero_ who is more _handsome_ than you, _kinder _than you, more _thoughtful_ than you, and _way_ sexier than you," She punctuated each statement with a hit while Wally and Robin just stared, paused from wherever they had been standing when she had attacked, "And he would be a way better choice for _any_ girl over _you_," She snapped with a final kick (to the face, Wally noticed once more) that threw him quite a few feet before he landed on the pavement. His ice armor cracked from the landing and Icicle moaned from his spot on the ground. Artemis paused, and Wally thought it looked like she'd had some sort of epiphany, "So _back off_,"

Or maybe he was just seeing things...

Wally sped up to stand next to the fuming blonde, not quite sure if he should direct attention to himself for the fear of incurring any lingering wrath. Robin busied himself with cuffing Jr and contacting the League for pick up .

Artemis sighed beside him and the speedster decided to take it as a sign that her anger had ebbed.

"Thanks," He started, his hand scratching nervously at the back of his head, "For, uh, sticking up for me,"

"It's no big deal," She huffed, crossing her arms defensively.

"It's good to hear that you at least think I'm better than some criminal," Wally joked with a smile. Then he tensed. _Why did I say that? Why did I just say that? That's just begging for her to contradict me!_

He grit his teeth as his eyes traitorously lingered on her face despite his survival instincts. But the speedster was thrown for a loop when a smile appeared on her face.

"I'm going to take the higher road for once and remind you that, yes, I don't think you're _completely_ terrible," She glanced over at him, her eyes honest.

"Thanks Artemis," He grinned, knocking elbows with her.

"_Artemis?" _Icicle Jr. spluttered from his position on the concrete, his jaw falling open as he looked at the blonde harder, as if he had just realized the girl was standing there even though she'd just pummeled him, "You're a _superhero!_"

Wally and Robin immediately shared a joint confused look before turning to see what Artemis would do.

"Hello Cameron," The archer's voice was bland with boredom, "I'm surprised your father didn't tell you,"

The villain visibly flinched from her statement before he scowled, "I thought we had something special,"

Wally grit his teeth at this, reasoning with himself that he was only upset with the idea that his teammate had once been intimate with a criminal. Nothing more.

"Cam you were my friend. Nothing more," Artemis frowned, crossing her arms across her chest, "Sometimes, I don't even know if you were _that_ much,"

Robin gave a low whistle at the crestfallen face of the ice villain, spurring Artemis to raise an eyebrow at the bat.

"Harsh, babe," Cameron grimaced.

The archer spun on her heel in a huff and started heading back to the bioship with heavy footsteps. Wally was left speechless from the whole encounter, watching her back mindlessly as his head filled with questions.

"KF," Robin snapped, catching the speedster's attention, "Go," He nodded his head toward the retreating blonde. Wally's face scrunched up in a mix of confusion and annoyance before turning to speed after the girl.

Dick always was more perceptive than Wally would really like.

"Artemis," The redhead called out a second before he stopped at her side. She glanced toward him briefly in acknowledgement, "You okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She continued her brisk walk, internally frustrated with the fact that Wally could keep up so easily.

"Well it must be hard seeing an old friend like that," He sympathized.

"He is _not_ my friend," Artemis stopped to face him, her eyes fierce.

"Sure, okay," Wally held up his hands in mock surrender.

Artemis kept her gaze on the ground so Wally dipped his head to look her in the eyes.

"What did he do to you?"

The archer didn't answer for a while, not even moving a muscle in response. But the speedster kept quiet and eventually she relented.

"It's more of what he didn't do," Artemis started with a sigh, "He never _really _cared. In retrospect, I shouldn't have really expected more from him. But I was a kid," She shrugged, her eyes never meeting Wally's as she spoke, "I got this idea in my head that he was _the one_. That someday we were going to get married and rob banks together,"

The redhead couldn't withhold a small snicker and Artemis rolled her eyes. He coughed awkwardly in apology and motioned for her to go on.

"Cameron was my only friend as a child, but as I grew up I slowly realized that I wasn't his. I wasn't the only one he flirted with when he realized cooties weren't real. I wasn't his best friend. And to him, I wasn't significant," Artemis paused, "Ridiculous right?" She laughed at herself, "I pined after him my _entire_ childhood. It wasn't even until today that I realized a part of me had still been holding onto that _stupid_ idea that someday we'd be together,"

"That's totally normal," Wally waved her off with a smile, "I thought I was going to marry my first grade teacher," His smile faltered when his joke had no effect on her melancholy mood, so he looked the blonde meaningfully in the eyes, "And, I'm glad that you've finally moved on from that idea,"

"Why?" Artemis snorted, "Because he's an idiot and a criminal?"

"Because he doesn't deserve you," Wally shot back quickly, "And you deserve someone recognizes how amazing you are; who can see the Artemis beyond your beautiful looks, and might I add, your smoking hot body," He nudged her with a smirk.

Artemis let out a short laugh and held a hand to her temple in annoyance, attempting to hide the blush rising to her cheeks.

"And for the record," Wally added, pulling her along towards the bioship with a loose grip on her hand, "There's nothing wrong with idiots,"

"Ah, I'll keep that in mind," Artemis smiled, tentatively intertwining her fingers with his own as they walked. Wally suddenly turned his head towards her, his face red as his features morphed from one of shock, to a beaming grin.

"I'm glad, Beautiful,"

* * *

**The idea that your first crush is the love of your life. Was I the only one that went through this? I got it into my head that no matter where I went or what I did, my first crush was always going to eventually fall in love with me. Because that's how it worked in the movies, the Disney prince is always the princesses first love. Or at least that's how it's implied, I think. **

**So I applied this idea to Artemis, who probably didn't have a lot of friends when she was younger because of her terrifying family and their reputation. It's a big shock to realize that your _true love_ isn't actually your true love. But if she didn't have anyone to move on from, that idea would only grow as she did. Er, that's how I perceive it. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot. I'm sorry if it wasn't what you were expecting. Hopefully you liked it anyway. Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**

**-Veg**


End file.
